tele vs gretsch

[drew_half_empty]

say we're talking a gretsch with an ebony fretboard, and filtertrons, vs a tele with an alder body, and a maple fretboard. What would be the big tonal differences?

as far as pickups go i think they're pretty similar, both low output, but with some twang & guts

ebony & maple fretboards sound pretty similar

and while hollowbodies are a lot warmer, gretsches are all maple, which is a bright wood, and teles are alder, which is warmer than maple, but still has that bite to it, plus, maybe some DR strings would give it that extra warmth

I know this is probably a dumb question but i've been workin so much lately i haven't had time to head down to a guitar shop, but I'm needing a killer rockabilly guitar

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: tele vs gretsch

bump

 

[MikeRocker]

Re: tele vs gretsch

I've got one of each, and you can't go wrong with either, especially for rockabilly. The Tele (unless you use flatwounds and put really dark pickups in it) will definitely have more sting than a Gretsch. A Tele is cheaper. A Tele has a longer scale length, which will give it more snap and twang, while making the Gretsch warmer and easier to bend strings. A 6120 (or comperable) feels a bit like playing an acoustic, with the thick hollow body and neck joining at the 14th fret. This isn't a bad thing at all, mine plays great and I love it. You can always get a Tele with a Bigsby (stock or retrofit). My advice is to try 'em both and see which feels and sounds best to you. IMHO those are the 2 classic rockabilly guitars (followed by an ES-335, Strat, and Duo-Jet), and I bet you'd be happy with either. Let me know if you have any questions.
Rockabilly Rules! :bowdown: :bigthumb:

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: tele vs gretsch

yeah i got a question right now, heh

what i want, is a bridge pup with lotsa twang, but a relatively low output that i can work with with a pup booster, get it around the 8k-9k range, but without the booster & through a bassman, think brian setzer on 'hell bent'

I guess a string reccomendation is in order aswell, i know he uses d'addarios, but he also uses gretsches, heh

 

[MikeRocker]

Re: tele vs gretsch

what i want, is a bridge pup with lotsa twang, but a relatively low output that i can work with with a pup booster, get it around the 8k-9k range, but without the booster & through a bassman, think brian setzer on 'hell bent'

I guess a string recommendation is in order aswell, i know he uses d'addarios, but he also uses gretsches, heh

By 8k-9k, do you mean the DC resistance, the resonant peak, or something else? For twang, my thoughts on pickups are Twang=low output with Alnico 5 magnets, or possibly Alnico 5/2 if the high strings are too piercing. Another thought would be to get a tapped hotter pickup and wire it with a push/pull volume pot to go from lower output/twangy to higher output/more aggressive sound. As far as strings go, Setzer (who is THE MAN!) supposedly uses D'Addario 10s. That's what I have on my 6120 (actually on all my standard electrics). As I mentioned, with the short scale length there's less tension, and I personally wouldn't want to go lighter than 10s, I think on a Gretsch it'd feel like rubber bands. Some hot country (very similar to rockabilly) Tele guys use 9s so they can do lots of wild string bending. The story goes that in the old days James Burton (who is ALSO THE MAN!) used to replace the wound 3rd string on his Tele with an unwound banjo string so that he could bend it more easily. Generally speaking, fat strings=fat sound.
Hope this helps, post any more questions.

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: tele vs gretsch

yeah, i think the 5/2 may be a good idea.

by k i mean dc resistance, my '59 rates at about 8 & gets PLENTY of distortion. I'm also not sure about the twang/output thing though, i played a nashville tele & it had lots of guts, but man, when you did bends on it, they were just brought to the next level, good dose of twang, plus single-coil clarity

maybe a nashville tele with d'adarrios & a push pull for tapping would be a good solution. However, they do come with rosewood fretboards, which is good for guts, but bad for that kinda snap that good rockabilly tone has

gah, i wish standard teles came with a rosewood option. $700 for two is a lot more appealing than $850 for a nashville & a standard

would there be a way to ballpark both rosewood & maple fretboard sounds? cuz then i could just get a standard, put in the tex mex pickup, and hit...some kinda switch, or roll some kinda knob to get a more rosewoody sound